Since 1995, Odyssey Expeditions offers educational adventure summer programs for high school students and middle school students, as well as summer study abroad programs for college students. They have taken thousands of students on a wide variety of adventures in over 15 Caribbean island countries including St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Martinique, Dominica, British Virgin Islands, St Martin, Saba, St Barts, St Kitts, the US Virgin Islands, Barbados, Belize, Guatemala as well as leading underwater photography trips in Galapagos, Cocos, and Soccoro in the Pacific.

Odyssey Expedition’s summer programs and college study abroad programs combine the finest elements of experiential learning, traditional classroom learning, and service learning with international travel and cultural exchange to create extraordinary expeditions. This is how we take our students to a new latitude every summer. The world awaits!

Fascinated with the tropical reefs and marine creatures or interested in a career in the marine sciences? S.E.A. (Service, Education and Adventure) Voyages are a unique opportunity to earn environmental service hours and academic credit while adventuring throughout the amazing Windward Islands archipelago. S.E.A. voyages offer you a great opportunity to learn about marine biology, sailing, and SCUBA diving, and make the most of your summer on a rewarding and educational adventure of a lifetime!

SERVICE These voyages focus on coral reef related environmental service throughout the Windward Islands. Working with the marine parks and international monitoring organizations, we conduct surveys on wild dolphin populations in Martinique, coral health assessments in St. Lucia's Marine Park, coral reef fish counts and project Reef Check in St. Vincent, and assist sea turtle population rehabilitation efforts in Bequia.

EDUCATION Coral reef biology and ecology accredited education programs. Discover the deeply interconnected ways the coral, invertebrates, and fishes work together in amazing efficiency. Aboard your vessel are microscopes and lab equipment and a staff of enthusiastic marine biologists ready to teach you how to collect scientifically sound ecological data as you explore your interest in a science career or just enjoy learning about the unique aspects of the reefs creatures. Learn to identify the top 25 corals and their common ailments as well as over 100 reef fishes in preparation for conducting biodiversity surveys of the reefs for the Reef Check initiative and add to the project REEF database. During this process you will learn about coral aggression, learn to treat coral Black Band disease, and discover the different coral growth forms. The behaviors of coral reef fishes are as vivid as their colors, and you will learn about their unique methods of mate selection and attraction, avoiding predation, and finding and obtaining dinner. A big part of the protection of these beautiful coral reef communities is through the conservation efforts of the marine parks of the islands. The marine parks provide safe havens from the effects of fishing and commercial utilization of the reef's resources, but the park systems are limited in scope due to economic challenges of the islands. We assist the local marine park rangers to conduct surveys assessing the health of the reefs and compare survey results to those taken outside of the marine park protected zones. You develop your skills in implementing the accepted protocols and methods of conducting field surveys to assess the health of fish, coral, and dolphin populations. All educational programs are taught in a hands-on approach in which you gain knowledge by doing, seeing and experiencing.

ADVENTURE Sailing throughout the archipelago, diving the coral walls, pinnacles, and reefs, exploring shipwrecks, hiking through the rain forest jungles, exploring volcanoes, refreshing in hot spring waterfalls and experiencing the culture and beauty ashore is sure to satisfy the explorer within you. With lots of SCUBA and FreeDiving included, you can earn multiple PADI SCUBA certifications including Advanced, our distinctive Research Diver plus Night Diver and Underwater Photography. We live aboard sailing catamarans and sail the blue passages between the islands. You are the crew, learning to raise and lower the sails, navigate, be the helmsman, and drop the anchor all in time for volleyball, wake boarding, and kayaking.

These exciting 21 day voyages sail between St Lucia and Grenada, visiting St Vincent and the Grenadines along the way. The itineraries for both voyages visit all the same locations, the first sails from St Lucia to Grenada, the second, Grenada to St Lucia. Flights are easy with jet service into both locations.

Day by Day Adventures

Days 1-4

You arrive St Lucia and venture along a mountain road to the stunningly beautiful Rodney Bay to meet your fellow crewmembers. You learn about your 46-foot sailing catamaran and then we cast-off, raise the mainsail, and head to Anse Cachon reef for a quick orientation dive. You start your Advanced SCUBA Diver course exploring the 165-foot Lesleen M shipwreck, where large groupers and a sea floor of garden eels await us. Have some fun sea-kayaking and wakeboarding in the calm, protected anchorage. Next you learn Drift Diving at 'Supermans Flight', a high-current coral wall underneath the Pitons in the SMMA marine park, then relax with a hike through jungle-covered botanical gardens for a soak in the volcanic hot springs. Working with marine rangers, we learn about management of the park.

Days 5-8

You sail on your first blue-water passage to St Vincent, usually accompanied
by a pod of dolphins playing in our bow wake, and arrive at the Soufriere volcano.
We hike up to the rim of its caldera for a view of primordial Earth through an amazing
national park. St Vincent has spectacular wall dives including the lava flows of 'Mystery Reef'
where you may find camouflaged frogfish, batfish, flying gurnards, and more, we even dive
through a bat cave! Ashore we explore the Pirates of the Caribbean movie set and hike
to the top of Fort Duvernette. You learn about Night Diving and nocturnal marine life
as well as conducting underwater research activities on coral reef and fishes and
contribute to conservation projects. For those interested, we begin our optional Freediver training, learning
relaxation techniques as we turn on our 'mammalian diving reflex'.

Days 9-11

The Grenadines offer us many small keys with rolling hills and picturesque villages.
We visit Bequia, a relaxed island with gingerbread-trimmed houses and home to the traditional
fishing and whaling industries. We spend an unforgettable day assisting in sea turtle
conservation efforts with Brother King at the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, cleaning the
turtles and tanks and releasing a Hawskbill to the ocean. The diving in the Grenadines
is exciting, with encounters of large pelagic fishes and pristine reefs.
We explore throughout the many islands, diving, hiking, and watersports as
well as shopping and a few visits ashore to eat amazing local cuisine.
You continue developing your freediving skills, learning to easily and
comfortably hold your breathe for three minutes or more and breath hold dive to over 60 feet!

Days 12-15

The Tobogo Cays are the quintessential postcard-perfect paradise with palm-lined cays and white sand beaches.
We assist the Tobogo Cays Marine Park rangers with REEF surveys as we explore this horseshoe shaped barrier reef,
and watch hawksbill and green sea turtles forage in the shallow sea grass beds.
Venturing ashore we spot wild iguanas and tortoises. We are getting quite adept at Freediving,
with new skills you never thought possible! For the adventurous, try your luck windsurfing,
waterskiing, or wakeboarding in the calm waters behind the reef.
We dive at the remote bird nesting colony at Sail Rock where spotted eagle rays and sharks glide overhead.
You are learning quite a lot of the running of your catamaran and can now navigate, trim the sails, anchor, and
watch the helm while learning all about sailing and seamanship.

Days 16-18

You will investigate bioluminescence during night dives and witness the changing of the guard of the reef
fishes from the diurnal herbivores to the nocturnal predators as we dive some of the worlds best reefs.
Learn a bit about digital underwater photography as we continue our investigations in marine biology.
Analyze the feeding habits and life cycles of the coral reef fishes and learn about fish count methods,
transect lines, and other tools of marine research.
The reefs here are optimal for perfecting fish identification
while exploring their unique niches and behaviors. In the southern
Grenadines we dive the Sisters, Big Blue, and Kick 'Em Jenny, which offer
fantastic opportunities to see pelagic fishes, swim in underwater caverns, and look over the abyss. The sailing is fantastic, and we are becoming quite accomplished sailors.

Days 19-21

The diving ramps up the excitement upon arrival to the 'Spice Island' of Grenada.
Dive in an underwater art exhibit of hundreds of statues as you investigate the world's
largest underwater sculpture garden. We have a choice of a few more amazing shipwrecks to
dive before heading ashore towards the fragrance of nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon.
Beautiful mountainous Grenada has rich culture and history to discover as we explore quaint colonial towns,
visit Fort Frederick high in the mountains, and shop in traditional straw markets for unusual gifts.
We have explored an arc of the Caribbean, contributed to reef conservation, and made great friends!
For those still seeking adventure, you may optionally go zip-lining through the rainforest canopy.
Lastly, enjoy a farewell pizza party dancing to steel drums ashore.

Prerequisites

To take the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course, you must be:

A PADI Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

For safety, all students complete a brief scuba Medical Statement (PDF) that asks about medical conditions that could be a problem while diving. If none of these apply, you sign the form and you're ready to start. If any of these apply to you, as a safety precaution your physician must assess the condition as it relates to diving and sign a medical form that confirms that you're fit to dive.

What people say

"Thanks go to YOU and everyone at Odyssey for providing such an awesome experience for Robbie! He has been talking about it non stop. He loved his counselors, the dives, the beauty of the islands and his shipmates. I loved the fact that he came home safe and sound!! Cheers to a job well done." ~ Janet P.

"As expected, Allie had the trip of a lifetime, and was weepy for days and days after getting home, because she was no longer with her new best friends in one of the most beautiful places in the world. She's really looking forward to sharing the photos. She loved everything about the trip and has kept in contact with her shipmates.Thank you for walking me through everything when I was trying to pull it all together at such a late date; you made me feel very comfortable sending my child off on her journey, and I appreciated your time and accessibility, and the quality of the trip. ~ Jan S.

"This is simply a "Thank you". My daughter, Lauren, attended Odyssey nearly 6 years ago, and we're still hearing about it today. Now, she's in her senior year at UCSD, as bio major and philosophy minor. She's PreMed and plans to take her MCAT's at the end of this year. In the midst of that, she managed to squeak in her Divemaster certification. She often refers to that trip as her leap into "adulthood." It was her first trip away by herself, and the confidence she came back with, has remained constant. I often recommend Odyssey to other parents. We usually get props for being cool enough parents to let our daughter go, but in all honesty, we had initially sought out your program at the strong suggestion of our neighbor, a Marine Biology instructor. He appealed to my husbands frugal side by telling him to let her see the ceiling because marine biology as a major has a high drop out rate, and not a lot of transferable credit toward another major. My husband saw the cost of your course as an easier chunk to swallow than a couple of years worth of tuition. Had we known what an impact it would have on her, there would have never been any debating or hesitating." ~ Jamie H.